Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey was published in 1962. Through the narration of a native Indian suffering from paranoia and hallucinations, it follows the lives of men in a 'fictional' mental hospital. Kesey was an anti-authoritarian participating in experimental LSD trials and working in a psychiatric ward. These experiences impacted his writing as he explored societal conventions and freedom. His work argues that repression maintains power and eliminates individuality. This is…

Correspondingly, McMurphy utilizes humor to maintain internal control and hapiness. Bromden asserts that Mack “knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy” (Kesey 190). McMurphy is able to laugh his way through difficulty and utilizes his sharp wit to aid others in coping. Like Sisyphus, McMurphy confronts the harsh reality of the Nurse’s control with humor. He is able to reject pain by refusing to…

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was written in 1959. The novel focuses on a male psychiatric ward which is ruled by a nurse. The piece supplies the reader with plot development, thick characterization, and various themes. All of these elements add to Kesey’s overall commentary of society’s control. Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Bromden is half- Indian. He has been a patient at a male psychiatric hospital for over ten years and pretends to be…

Wendell Berry is an American poet and literary fictionist who mainly writes about agriculture, rural life, communities, outdoors and nature. “[He] has written at least twenty-five chapbooks of poems, sixteen volumes of essays, and eleven novels and short story collections” (Shetterly). He is an environmental activist, conservationist, and cultural critic. He is a supporter of Christian pacifism, which he clearly states in his book Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings About Love,…

came first, the chicken or the egg? The allegorical question has vexed philosophers, old and new, but the chicken-and-egg dilemma has become an emblematic icon used to describe a situation characterized by a blurred line between cause and effect. Ken Kesey pondered a predicament of the sort in his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, through the identity of his character, Chief Bromden. Namely, he explored the influence of his outwardly perceived identity, on the perception he cultivated of…

complete shock and disappointment, the only next reasonable step she professes is to keelhaul(13) him by telling his actions to his mother as punishment(13). In complete dismay, the only justification Billy gives is as he exclaims “McMurphy did it!”(Kesey 264). The idea of free will is yet again prophesied, however, the encouragement of drugs, alcohol, and women, seemingly argues whether or not Billy was in control of himself as he regained his deprived masculinity. However, the lust(14) and…

Life is a fragile collection of events and perceptions. Each perception has the potential to change in an instant, but only if the individual is emotionally involved. In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, Kesey demonstrates that life remains an illusion until traumatic life events alter this self-perception--providing the individual is capable of experiencing empathy. In the cases of Bromden and McMurphy during their time in the mental institution, their view of reality alters…

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST The movie, released in 1975 is based on the novel written by Ken Kesey. The movie has won numerous awards including academy and is considered amongst the best movies ever made. The plot of the movie revolves around the conflict between Randle Patrick “Mac” McMurphy, a criminal charged with the rape of a 15 year old girl, now being transferred to a mental institution, where McMurphy faces Nurse Mildred Ratched, who run the ward. The word “conformity” is a type of…

Typical Story As humans, we are often very stubborn to accept and understand the lives and thoughts of other people. We cannot truly comprehend the lives of other people until we are able to fully experience what they feel. It is for this reason that Ken Kesey’s novel One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is so enticing. The story reveals the life of Randle McMurphy, a deeply flawed man who faked mental illness in order to avoid laboring in a work camp for his crimes. As a result, he is sent to…

“I never found a companion that was quite as companionable as solitude.” Henry David Thoreau, a popular transcendentalistic author and writer of Walden, is a huge advocate of loneliness, in the way that means separation from society. However, Edgar Allen Poe, a well known dark romantic author, believes that we all have a severe appetite for being a part of society. In literature, we can see how the relationship between the individual and society tie together and differ between each individual,…